Participants refrained from bullshitting only when they possessed adequate self-regulatory resources and expected to be held accountable for their communicative contributions

Self-Regulatory Aspects of Bullshitting and Bullshit Detection. John V. Petrocelli, Haley F. Watson, and Edward R. Hirt. Social Psychology, April 30, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000412

Abstract: Two experiments investigate the role of self-regulatory resources in bullshitting behavior (i.e., communicating with little to no regard for evidence, established knowledge, or truth; Frankfurt, 1986; Petrocelli, 2018a), and receptivity and sensitivity to bullshit. It is hypothesized that evidence-based communication and bullshit detection require motivation and considerably greater self-regulatory resources relative to bullshitting and insensitivity to bullshit. In Experiment 1 (N = 210) and Experiment 2 (N = 214), participants refrained from bullshitting only when they possessed adequate self-regulatory resources and expected to be held accountable for their communicative contributions. Results of both experiments also suggest that people are more receptive to bullshit, and less sensitive to detecting bullshit, under conditions in which they possess relatively few self-regulatory resources.

Keywords: accountability, bullshit, bullshitting, bullshit detection, self-regulation, self-regulatory resources